Midnight's Wishes -SSHG-
by bitchenware
Summary: One bittersweet moment on the Astronomy Tower and the next thing you know, the night has made its plans for you. What can you do but comply? The Half-Blood Prince and the Gryffindor Princess find themselves subject to someone else's fantasy, but can things stay the way they seem? Perfect?
1. I : Mortal Men

**A/N: Guess who's back. Back again. Sabina's back. Tell a friend.**

* * *

September 1st. There she was again, watching the world go by. It was a long time ago that Hermione Granger had decided she was an observer.

She didn't care for the glory of battle. She frankly didn't give a damn about the victory. She had no desire to participate in the festivities of the night. After the events of last year, she'd not even wanted to come back for her 7th year at Hogwarts and if she was honest with herself, she'd look in the mirror and ask what had happened to the infamous insufferable know-it-all. Then she would trace the dark circles under her dulled eyes and try to remember the last time she had had a dream that wasn't about her family. Not just her blood family, but also all the witches and wizards she had come to know and had to let go of too soon.

She hadn't slept for more than an hour at once since July for fear of their faces finding a way into her mind's eye. She wanted to forgive herself but she couldn't - she was always going to be responsible for what she did to them. And she was always going to be different, never truly accepted anywhere because to the wizarding world she was practically a muggle - impure and not worth their time - and to the muggle world she was a nutcase, unhinged and removed from the goings on of society.

Strange as it was, Hermione was only just about starting to accept her role as an outsider. While Harry and Ron loved to bask in their newfound eternal glory, she couldn't help thinking that maybe they had only wanted her there to do all the groundwork so they were able to carry off the heroic deeds without a hitch.

Hermione just right then, as she swung her legs over the edge of the observatory of the Astronomy Tower, came to the conclusion that she must be the loneliest girl in the world.

Severus Snape never used to seek solace from a single place, only a single person. Yet, here he was.

The first night of the school year always seemed to be the darkest. He used to think that the phases of the moon lined up with the Hogwarts school year before he realised that the moon had its own agenda - watching and waiting, overseeing the most terrible acts committed on dark nights in hidden places. Keeping secrets for traitors and spies. Staying silent while lies became ingrained in legend.

It could have saved him once, long ago, but a new moon on Halloween 17 years ago showed exactly what the moon thought of him when he needed someone to watch over him. It could have spared him his soul.

Tonight, again, the moon was nowhere to be seen. Severus knew he should have been out on the grounds patrolling and deducting house points from some idiot foolish enough to cross his path. But who was watching over him? Not the moon, that was for sure.

Nobody else seemed to have noticed how he had been grazed by the gaping jaws of death. Not that he'd wanted them to make a massive fuss, but the recognition of his artistry in creating a bezoar potent enough to put a stopper in death as he was laid bare to it? That would have been appreciated.

His thoughts were interrupted by a weak cough from the other side of the Astronomy Tower. Instinct forced his hand to the smooth ebony hidden up his sleeve, a habit he had earned from years of constantly being scrutinized, and he silently snapped around to identify the perpetrator of the sound, only to find himself lowering his wand arm when he was faced with the back of a young, cold, insufferable know-it-all. He sighed to himself in disbelief and inched a foot forward towards her.

The floor boards creaked under him and he saw her body language change dramatically. She had become alert, sensitive, like a soldier. Her shoulders became rigid and her back straightened quicker than a reflex. Her face remained determinedly staring at the absent moon as Severus took another step towards her.

"Miss Granger," he breathed in the lowest voice he could muster, "I'm not going to hurt you." She turned her head to face his slowly and looked up like a deer caught in headlights.

"I know" she replied at lightning speed, as if she were scared of the silence engulfing them both.

"Miss Granger, you shouldn't be here at such a late hour,"

"And should you?" she retorted with a sudden fire behind her eyes.

"What I do with my spare time is none of your concern, Miss Granger. I was simply commenting on the fact that you should at this moment be in the Head Girl's dormitory, preferably getting a good night's rest in preparation for the beginning of classes tomorrow." As Severus said this, he heard the distant chime of church bells from the muggle village of Blairbuie close to Hogsmeade. "I was mistaken. Your classes begin today." With that he took a final step so that he was a hair's breadth from her.

Hermione turned her head back around to gaze out at the night sky.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I shouldn't have challenged you. You of course have leave to be wherever you so please. I just thought I was alone, that's all." she said, fiddling with a loose thread on her shirt. With that, Severus gave out a small sigh and got down to sit next to her, allowing his legs to dangle over the edge of the observatory.

The last time he had been here he had murdered a man. In the end that's what all wizards were - mere mortal men waving sticks and shouting in Latin. Albus Dumbledore was no different. He had known that life couldn't carry on forever, and what did _he_ decide on? Self-orchestrated murder. Snape refused to call it anything else. He had been a murderer then and he was a murderer still because Albus Dumbledore hadn't given two shits about how his soul had been torn to pieces in the fifteen years he'd spent as a spy for the light and he had only just about made it past trials at the Ministry for various crimes against wizarding kind. The only reason he was even allowed to be at Hogwarts anymore was that Dumbledore had deigned to pen a prophetic pardon for his murders and the Wizengamot had decided it was unsafe to let him live out his days in peace at Spinner's End. Who knew, he might just start to go around murdering people.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the shivering of the girl next to him in the corner of his eye. He didn't pretend to care and just averted his gaze while the not-quite-uncomfortable silence continued for ten minutes or so. After a while, Severus noticed long, shallow breaths coming from his left. He turned his head to see Hermione Granger with her head facing out towards the sky, her wild curls obscuring his view of her face, and her knees clutched to her chest. She looked alone.

Severus groaned inwardly as hastily he realised he couldn't just leave her at the top of the Astronomy Tower to wake up Merlin knows when. He also couldn't take her to her dormitory - despite being a teacher, Minerva had not seen it fit to actually let anyone on the staff know of the "skeleton key" password yet. Therefore he was faced with one choice. He went to pick up her sleeping form - but as soon as his hand made contact with her skin he was struck with a sharp, biting sensation like an electric shock and pulled his arms away as if he'd been whipped. She remained as peaceful as could be in her slumber and if someone had asked him right then, Severus would have been lost for words to explain why he looked up into the night sky and saw a Full Moon.

He shook himself in disbelief. _The moon doesn't just go through a half cycle in two seconds_. This didn't stop him being curious. Hesitantly, he reached out once more and touched the back of his hand to the bare skin on her forearm - again he was met with a shock sensation and when he looked up at the sky his eyes involuntarily opened a little wider and his jaw dropped. A New Moon. This was far from normal, even for an accomplished wizard. For once in his life, Severus Snape was truly stumped. What in the heavens was he supposed to do?

He cast a silent Mobilicorpus on the girl's sleeping form and guided her down the winding stairs of the tower, taking care not to wake her because Circe only knew what she'd think if she woke up to find herself in this position. Thinking quickly as they neared the bottom of the staircase, Severus took off his charcoal cloak with one hand and draped it over her, keeping his wand trained on her body with his other hand. And like this he began the long walk to the dungeons. Having reached the door to his private chambers, Severus waved his wards away with a murmur of "Eileen Prince" and entered his domain with his charge.

Here there was a minor dilemma. Severus didn't have a sofa, only two high-backed chesterfield armchairs. _Where in the hell am I supposed to put her?_

He hated to admit it to himself, but he was going to have to let her lie on his bed - the dining table would hardly have been appropriate. Mentally kicking himself, he led the sleeping girl into his bedroom and whispered Statim Corpus, letting her rest on top of the crimson covers. He let his gaze travel over her for a few minutes.

Oh, how his least favourite insufferable chit had changed. The frizz was gone from her hair and it spiralled in mussed ringlets to just below her collarbone. Her eyes were closed, but thick, dark lashes stood out on her pale complexion. He could hardly stop himself from gasping a little when his eyes trailed over the rest of her body. She couldn't have eaten for months and he would know what that looked like. Dragging his hands through his own greasy locks, he hastily banished her skeletal form from his head and made for the living room.

He had meant to pour himself a firewhiskey so that he could brood and look sophisticated with a crystal tumbler in his hand. _Who am I kidding? The shit tastes like goblin piss warmed up_. However when he opened his drinks cabinet, Severus had to look at himself and ask what he was doing. There he was, with none other than Hermione Know-It-All Granger sleeping on his bed, and he wanted to drink himself into oblivion. No. He let the door of the cabinet hang open. An option for later when the godforsaken child was out of harm's way. With a hasty Muffliato Maximus to be sure Hermione wouldn't be woken up by all the commotion, he dropped a fist full of floo powder into the roaring fire and called the Headmistress. Minerva would know what to do and if not, Severus was certain that Albus' portrait would have something to say - it always had one opinion or another.

He settled leaning against the mantlepiece while he waited for the Headmistress and there was one thought pulsing in his mind. _Why the fuck did me touching her do that?_ He'd read into lunar magic, but that was a short phase when he was an apprentice attempting to make a more potent Wolfsbane potion to aid the Dark Lord's work and even then he hadn't read much further past it's deeper effects on those inflicted with the Lycan curse.

After a few minutes, Minerva McGonagall came bursting through the fireplace, red in the face, complete with tartan dressing gown and nightcap, stray mousey-gray hairs flying about and all guns blazing.

"SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE! WHAT KIND OF FUCKING TIME DO YOU CALL THIS? I'VE BEEN IN MY BED FOR ALL OF TWO MINUTES AND YOU CALL ME ON THE BLOODY FLOO! SOD THE BLOODY FLOO NETWORK, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO GET ME UP AT A QUARTER TO ONE IN THE FUCKING MORNING?"

_Well, she definitely roars like a lion._

"Minerva, I- well, I'm in need of your help." he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the floor.

* * *

_"CRUCIO!" _

_By this fifteenth curse, she still couldn't stop herself from screaming as her bones ground against each other and her limbs flew in impossible directions. She begged. She pleaded. There was no reasoning with them. She was sure they wouldn't hurt her if they took off their masks. She couldn't figure out why, but instinct told her that the masks were more than just physical. As if they could read her mind, the three of them vanished the ornate silver skulls atop their faces but seeing their true faces just made her scream out again. _

_She just wanted to be saved, was it too much to ask? To be saved from Death Eaters with her parents' faces? She scrambled to a shaded corner of the clinically bright room but it was already occupied. A deep, velvety voice hushed her squeal - she was more than surprised to find someone else in the spot. She recognised the voice but couldn't pinpoint its owner. Whoever it was wrapped their strong arms around her and she melted into their warm protection._

* * *

"Severus, it's a long time since I've studied lunar magic and I can't say I've ever heard of anything of this nature before. Are you absolutely positive you didn't just hallucinate? The New Moon does things to people that even the gods could probably not explain." Minerva had calmed down in her intrigued state and Severus was frankly relieved that she hadn't carried on screaming the place down.

"Minerva, I am certain. A year's break from nigh on twenty of being a double agent doesn't make my senses numb." He was becoming frustrated. He'd been attempting to explain the incident on the Astronomy Tower for almost an hour now and quite frankly he was getting tired. He still hadn't mentioned to the Headmistress the small matter of her favourite Gryffindor's compromising position on his bed.

As if by magic, it was as soon as this thought crossed his mind that a tiny creak could be heard from the far end of the corridor - he'd better start explaining.

The first thought to pop into her head when she was startled awake from the dream with sweat streaming down her face was _This is not my bed_. The second one was _Whose bed am I in?_ And she had to admit, this wasn't something she asked herself on a regular basis.

The last thing Hermione could remember was the silence with Snape on the Astronomy Tower. She knew by now that she'd fallen asleep, that was obvious enough. But how had she got here? Had she sleepwalked or had Snape moved her? She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the possibility of him touching her. She wasn't exactly upset - but she wasn't necessarily pleased about it either.

She took in her surroundings. She was now sitting up on an at least king-size four-poster bed which must have been made of ebony and was embellished with a plump, silky, scarlet quilt embroidered with silver vines. In fact, all the furniture in the room was made of silver edged ebony. If this was Snape's bedroom, she was guessing he had come into a hell of a lot of money at some point. Either that or the castle really liked him. The walls were an even charcoal grey and all the surfaces were polished, not a speck of dust to be seen - the only thing Hermione could see in a position of decoration was books. Books, books, BOOKS! Leather-bound first editions in small piles on the bedside table; muggle paperbacks stuffed under a chest of drawers; huge biblical-looking tomes lined up neatly on a shelf above the door in order according to their size- She could have been in heaven.

It was at this point that it really hit her. She had been sleeping on Severus Snape's bed whether she liked it or not. Which meant she was in his chambers. She scrambled off the bed - his bed - quickly, trying not to make any noise. Shrugging off the cloak that had been draped around her, she slowly made her way to the door and precariously turned the mirrored knob as she pushed against it. The creak that ensued was only quiet, but she was sure that anyone twenty feet away with normal hearing would have picked up on it.

With a sigh she stepped forward into the long hallway. Fingers crossed.

"So as you can tell, Minerva, I didn't have much choice as to what to do with her - I mean, I don't have the password to her dormitory and I could hardly have just left her on the top of the Astronomy Tower. What was I to do?"

"The question is: what did you do, Severus?" said McGonagall with a stern look at him over her half-moon spectacles. She knew the answer but she had to hear him say it before she could jump to any conclusions. He was wringing his hands - obviously this situation was truly getting to him.

"Merlin, I brought her down here. Alright? She's asleep - _on top_ of my bed - don't worry, I haven't touched her since the incident on the Tower," Severus looked up from the floor after a brief silence to see his colleague in a slight state of confusion. "I levitated her, of course." he saw the realisation dawn on Minerva's face that his actions were entirely according to the book. Well, apart from the whole take a student to your chambers thing.

Conveniently, as if cued, Hermione Granger took her opportunity at this moment to grace them with her presence. How long has she been awake? Did she hear everything? She slipped into the warm room, eyes to the floor and silently closed the door behind her. When she looked up she was met by not only the onyx orbs of one Severus Snape but also the concerned stare of her Headmistress. _Oops_. After a moment of shocked silence, she saw Snape put his head in his hands. None of them were going to get much sleep that night.

"Miss Granger, how long have you been awake?" said Severus. He was at a loss for what to tell her about the events on the Astronomy Tower - if he should tell her at all. She seemed to be in a daze, she may have heard enough already.

"Professor Snape, how long have I been here?" she replied in the same exasperated manner as the question was posed. _Touché, Granger_.

"Around an hour."

"Well then I think I should be going, don't you?" she said, her voice cracking a little. She was tired and confused and she was sure that whatever was going on could be sorted out in the light of day. However, Minerva felt the need to interject.

"Actually, Miss Granger, I think it would be best if you stayed here at least for a little while so that we may discuss the situation we find ourselves in." she tried to be gentle, but the desperation in her voice was not easy to disguise.

"I wasn't aware that there was a situation, Professor. In fact I almost fully expect to wake up in five minutes' time back in my dormitory where I should be." She was bloody stubborn, Severus could definitely give her that. _Typical Gryffindor_. He had to stop and compose himself before he tore her apart with a rant about Gryffindor foolishness. Now was not the time to pick at old wounds.

"If you would have a seat, Miss Granger," he conjured an armchair identical to the two already in the room "then perhaps our current predicament could be explained." Hesitantly, Hermione made her way over to the armchair, the size of which only emphasised her ever more fragile frame. It was a push for her to ignore her Potions Master's slightly furrowed brow when she sat in the massive chair, but she managed a neutral enough facial expression to carry her through.

"There's a situation?" she decided it was best for her own voice to start the discussion - she got the feeling it wasn't going to be a quick chat per se.

"I-"

"Severus," McGonagall warned, "perhaps it would be best that I recount events for Miss Granger - to help avoid anything becoming lost in translation. Yes?" Severus just raised an eyebrow in consent and let her continue, leaning back in his chair and settling his gaze on the young woman in the one opposite him. He hadn't been wrong when he'd thought she was thin. She was downright bony and it frankly worried him to think that if he touched her arm it might just snap. "Well, Miss Granger. Perhaps it would be best to begin from what you remember last, hm?"

Hermione was a little stumped to say the least. She wasn't aware that she was actually supposed to lead the conversation, but rather thought she'd be observing. _Oh well_.

"Well, at around nine o'clock, I walked up to the Astronomy Tower. I- I didn't particularly fancy getting caught up in all the first-day-back-at-school-after-the-death-of-Voldemort bulllshit." she was interrupted by a small cough by the Headmistress. Ironically, it reminded her of Umbridge. Perhaps she'd gotten a little carried away in her cynicism. "Sorry, Professor. Anyway, I was up there alone for a good three hours in peace, just sat admiring the moon, or lack thereof, I suppose, and thinking. I just can't think enough these days." she let out a deep sigh "So I had been there for a long while, and I obviously hadn't realised when Professor Snape joined me because I was startled when he spoke to me. Hence I was a little rude in my response but I duly apologised and continued in the fashion I was before. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in an unfamiliar room on an unfamiliar bed and I think quite righteously confused!"

She had kept it together for the most part, but towards the end she was visibly losing her patience and her guards were falling down. Severus realised suddenly how disorienting the situation must have been for her. He himself was no stranger to waking up in unfamiliar places but for her... well it obviously wasn't that easy.

"Well, from what Professor Snape has told me, I can hope to fill in the gaps. According to him, about ten minutes after your short conversation, he came to realise that you had fallen asleep, and not wishing to leave you asleep on the top of the tower and open to the elements, he made the decision to bring you into the castle." Hermione's mouth by this point had formed a small O as she began to piece things together "Now, as I understand it, Severus went to pick you up with the intention of taking you to his chambers-" she held her hand up as Hermione opened her mouth to protest "Miss Granger, Severus is not privy to the castle's secrets in regards to passwords, including to your is crucial that at this point in particular you are attentive and open to new information, do I make myself quite clear?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Hermione muttered back, slightly embarrassed at having to remember her place after trying to interrupt her teacher. The Headmistress placed her hands back on her knee and continued her pledge for her colleague's innocence.

"He went to pick you up, but as soon as his hand touched you he felt a- oh Severus, what was it you said?" she tapped her index finger to her temple looking for the right words and soon found them "He felt a sensation akin to an electric shock. You were still in a reasonably deep sleep, undisturbed by the feeling Severus encountered. When he felt compelled to look up at the sky he noticed that the moon had made a half cycle. You know what that means, I am sure. The moon appeared to be at the apex of its cycle. Professor Snape, being ever inquisitive, went to touch you again and found that the pattern repeated and the presence of the new moon returned. Of course he was concerned and thought rather to bring you into the castle by means of levitation, however, not having the password to either Gryffindor Tower or your own dormitory, his own chambers seemed the only decent place to put you." Hermione was just about gathering her thoughts.

"So, what you're saying is - Professor Snape and I performed lunar magic up there?" She had read about it briefly in the fifth year, but could never find any books explaining it in depth. It wasn't exactly a common form of magic and if she remembered correctly, there were only ten ways in which one could master lunar magic - 9 of which required decades of training and the tenth which was only hastily mentioned but she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was. Even so, things were piecing themselves together in her mind and she knew for certain that this wasn't something to take lightly.

Lunar magic was unreliable, but powerful. It required a strong mind and potent natural magical energy to carry through. Hermione knew that her being muggleborn meant that her magic was pure - it came from a fresh store of energy rather than being diluted through the generations. She only knew that Snape was a half-blood but it was obvious to anyone that he was a powerful and skilled wizard.

She must have been quiet for a while thinking over the situation, because she was brought out of her trance by the Headmistress who was whispering to Professor Snape "Perhaps we should give her a little time," to which Hermione snapped her head up suddenly.

"It's quite alright, Professor. I think I've gotten to grips with the situation, so to say." she said. Professor Snape looked noticeably uncomfortable. "I'm not sure exactly what this means, though I have a rough idea of how it could have happened." She scratched at her temple as a slight nervous tick. "I'd like to do more research."

Professor McGonagall smiled at the corners of her mouth. This was the only true response one would expect from Hermione Granger. She may have been bright, but she understood that there was always a darker place to light up with her vast knowledge. After years of teaching her, one could hardly forget it. "Miss Granger, I'd like to propose something to you. This is something which I am well aware may come as a surprise to you and there is no doubt in my mind that Professor Snape will protest until it's steaming from his ears. I think it would be an aid in our learning about this... shall we say - connection, if yourself and Severus were to live in close quarters for at least a full cycle of the moon." At this Hermione furrowed her brow and Severus just raised an eyebrow. _Fuck, she works quickly. _He could have protested. He could have sworn that there was simply no space for her anywhere near him. But he knew that they were both well aware of the castle's ability to accommodate people living together.

"Wouldn't that be awfully inconvenient?" Hermione pondered, shifting her weight from side to side on the ever more uncomfortable armchair. "I mean, my studies mean that I'm all over the place, and I'm sure Professor Snape would rather his solitude remain undisturbed." She was trying for an inoffensive, respectful tone but she had the feeling it had sounded rather bitter - she shook it off. This could probably just be attributed to her tiredness. She wasn't trying to offend anyone, honestly it was far too early in the morning for that, but she knew for sure that Snape would want nothing to do with her even if they did share some incredible and ancient raw magical power. To be frank, it was a pretty bonkers suggestion in her opinion.

Severus was just caught up in it all, wasn't he? First night back at Hogwarts after rising from the dead and killing his mentor and what did he get for all his struggles? A bizarre connection with an intelligent, beautiful, irritating young woman who was nonetheless his student and favoured comrade of Harry fucking Potter. _Beautiful? Severus, since when was the bushy haired know-it-all a beautiful young woman to you? No. She's a simple annoyance, to be avoided at all costs._ He cleared his throat and began his tirade "Minerva, this is entirely inappropria-"

"I'll have none of it, Severus. Not now. What I would suggest now is that Miss Granger" she looked pointedly at the obviously exhausted Hermione, "and yourself return to your respective beds and I'll have a chat with you both after classes finish tomorrow. Are we all agreed?" She watched as Hermione nodded sleepily and rubbed her eyes and Severus sat stone faced pursing his lips. "Severus?" she repeated ardently.

He gave a short sharp nod of resignation. "I suppose I ought to show Miss Granger out of my quarters. I've no doubt she knows her way from there." he said with a slight sneer.

Well, if they ended up living together, she decided he'd have to stop being such a patronising bastard. She'd had enough of that from Dumbledore in their wandless magic tuition sessions, but at least Dumbledore had never questioned her status as an adult. There was one thing of which Hermione was absolutely sure - things were going to be changing around here.

* * *

**A/N: So yep, we're back again with new and improved Midnight's Wishes! I've changed a few chapters around and written a few inbetweeners so it should hopefully make for a much better, more interesting and consistent story. Thanks to everyone who followed the story while it was on hiatus to come back and read it, and to all of you who have been here since the start with your wonderful support. Don't forget to favourite, follow and review! **

**-Sabina**


	2. II : Crash

**Wizards, as usual, will be swearing, and as usual, everything you recognise belongs to a greater being than I.**

* * *

September 2nd, 7:26 am. She was one of the first in the Great Hall for breakfast and she was definitely going to be the first one out. Her friends could try to shove as many crumpets and as much pumpkin juice into her as they liked, it wasn't like it was going to stay there. She glanced up at the head table and noticed that Professor Snape was absent, which was unusual for him. He was usually there before Hermione, she assumed now that this was because he used to be so busy being a double agent that breakfast had to be scheduled in early.

So far, she had slept for three hours in separate bursts but all the time inbetween it felt like she would never sleep again with all the thoughts racing through her head. As soon as it was late enough in the morning to be considered acceptably early normally, she had made her way to the Great Hall and composed a list of things to do:

1\. To find whatever book it was she had read in fifth year on lunar magic. And read it thoroughly.

2\. To keep her breakfast down so that she could somehow make it through all her lessons without fainting. A difficult feat and not one she cared so much about accomplishing, but worth a try.

3\. To make it to Charms at the end of the day without someone noticing the visible dark circles under her eyes. She knew she could have put a glamour on, but now wasn't the time for frivolities and her magical energy felt depleted already. There was no point in totally draining herself.

Just as her thoughts returned to grazing on her surly Potions Master, the man himself strode into the hall with a sour look on his face.

_ The smug little shit_, she just sat there staring at him totally gormless. He bet she was pleased about how she'd affected him - how she'd taken his quiet evening on the Astronomy Tower and made it more stressful than a Death Eater meeting. If he was honest, she looked more stressed than him, but she likely just wasn't as good at hiding it. He couldn't explain why he had been so gentle, so tender towards her last night. He hardly understood it himself.

Severus noticed his heart beginning to pound fast under his robes and scowled to himself. No way. No way was he letting that insufferable girl get to him. He practically flew to the Head Table, robes billowing behind him, to push some eggs around a plate for twenty minutes before leaving to prepare his sixth year Hufflepuff and Gryffindor lesson.

Hermione was sure Arithmancy had never been this boring. History of Magic had been fine, thanks to the fact that she had pretty much covered the advanced syllabus back when she still actually gave a damn. In all honesty, she could have taken her NEWTs that very day but something inside her wanted normal back. Normal. Waking up every day in Gryffindor Tower, going to her classes, excelling in her classes, laughing with her friends. She wanted normal back so much she might have tried to bring Voldemort back from the dead to appease her sanity. She stopped herself before her mind jumped into an endless chasm of what could have been. This was a new normal. She wasn't quite comfortable but she was going to have to get used to it.

As she her eyes glazed over and she stared out of the window onto the grounds, she couldn't stop the events of last night returning to the forefront of her mind. She had been planning on sneaking to the library on her way back to her dormitory, but the thought of being seen out of her room at three in the morning in prize position to start rumours was not an appealing one.

With that in mind, Hermione leafed through the book mentally for a while. It didn't actually take long for her to come back to the page she needed. The tenth way. Before, she hadn't thought it was possible, at least not for two people in such close proximity. That was why she had pushed it into the pile of useless information at the back of her mind. Thinking about it again as she watched the Giant Squid take another large bird as its victim, she realised that the only way to know for sure was to test it, like any good scientist. She resolved to do so after the meeting with McGonagall. That way it couldn't interfere with any outcome that should arise.

Severus had been watching her pick at her food miserably for a good half hour while her friends chattered around her, probably about Quidditch or the latest edition of Witch Weekly. He couldn't imagine she would be terribly interested even if she was paying them an ounce of attention. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her at Potter or Weasley's side - at least willingly. The whole of Wizarding Britain had been subject to the scandal when she had broken up with Weasley. Frankly he didn't understand the entire ruckus it had caused. In his opinion, it had to be clear to anyone that the buffoon barely matched her level emotionally, never mind intellectually.

"Severus, you really ought to stop staring at her, somebody's bound to notice" he heard a Scottish brogue from his left.

He glared at his mentor from the corner of his eye. "I rather thought we had agreed to not speak on the matter until the scheduled time," he replied, his voice dripping with venom. "But apparently all the rules of social conduct jump willingly out of the window where you're concerned."

"Now, Severus, let's not talk about social conduct after my lovely 2 am visit to your chambers on your request." She had him there. He could have blushed were it not that he sat in front of the entire school, all of whom knew him as the miserable greasy dungeon dweller. There was no need to pull back the facade just yet. He just grumbled to himself, something about self-righteous hags, and let Minerva chuckle away. "You know, you can actually be quite nice when you try. It's rather endearing, really."

Severus ignored her and continued his study of Hermione Granger. He could only count three times in the twenty minutes so far of lunch hour that she had put a piece of food in her mouth. Not even hearty food - it looked to him from his vantage point at the Head Table like a lettuce leaf cut up and mangled on her plate.

_ Attractive_.

Four hours later, he found himself pacing the Headmistress' office, deep in thought and filled with anticipation. He was sure that if Granger took much longer to get there that he would bore a hole into Minerva's floorboards. He hated how all the portraits watched him and murmured to one another as he made his way from one end of the room to the other and back again and again. Especially Dumbledore. Even in paint, the bastard had that infuriating twinkle in his eye that Severus so wanted to punch off his smug, oil-based face.

At about ten past five, Hermione Granger burst into the office, red in the face and out of breath, with her tangled locks roaming wild. She was a mess. Severus almost smiled to himself at the sight. Almost.

A clink of teaspoon against saucer from Minerva's desk signalled the beginning of the meeting, and the Headmistress pulled two black leather chairs to the front of her desk with a swift flick of her wand.

Hermione was grateful for a chance to sit down after running down three and up four flights of stairs to get to the office. The stairs just weren't on her side today, she noted how every time she got close to the right office, the staircase she was on would move its end to the other side of the castle. She had concluded that Hogwarts just didn't like her.

"Now, have you both had a chance to think on our current predicament, given a good night's sleep?" Minerva gave the both of them the kind of steely look that made them feel like children being told off for frying ants in a playground. Hermione hesitantly nodded and Severus maintained his same posture.

"Having thought extensively about your suggestion, Professor, I- I can say that I honestly wouldn't mind having to share living space with Professor Snape." Hermione blurted out, somewhat rushed and practiced. _Even if he is a total bastard._

"Good," McGonagall pursed her lips into a small, triumphant smile "and as you are already aware that you have no choice in the matter, Severus, I will have a house-elf take your belongings to the Room of Requirement, where I have already taken the liberty to set up a suitable living area for yourself and Miss Granger."

_ Of course you have, you interfering cow. I thought I'd escaped the meddling ways of the old man, but apparently you were his apprentice_. Severus just let the scowl on his face set in deeper. He already knew there was no way Minerva was letting his sorry arse get out of this and she was grinning like the fucking Cheshire Cat. Letting out a deep sigh, he pushed himself up off the chair, brushing off his robes and strode out of the room to make his way to his new chambers. He had some unpacking to do.

* * *

It was 9 o'clock. _Bollocks_. He'd missed dinner. Severus weighed up the pros and cons of continuing his Muggle novel, Little Dorrit, in favour of cooking himself some spaghetti or something similar. Spaghetti won, thanks to the gurgling of his stomach and the fact that he knew sooner or later he was going to have to face up to Hermione Granger who he knew was currently sat at the solid kitchen table, reading a Muggle novel of her own, though through the hole in his wards he couldn't see its title.

Getting up quickly to give himself no chance to go back to avoiding her as he had been for the past four hours, he took a deep breath and braced himself for impact.

She was expecting him to come into the kitchen sooner or later. Actually, she was getting quite hungry, not that she expected him to make her anything, she just knew that if she was in company that the feeling would wear off eventually. She was a little startled when he actually came into the room as if on cue and she almost stood up in front of the table as she was conditioned to do in Potions lessons.

"You haven't eaten, I assume, Miss Granger." Severus said with an unintentional sneer. Anyone with half a brain would know.

"Why should you care? It's not like you want to be here with me, there's no need to pretend."

"Miss Granger-"

"Hermione, please. We're living together, you might as well." She finally looked up at him to see the look of shock spread across his face. She had cut him off. He was speechless. He swiftly shut his mouth for fear of looking like a goldfish and made his way to the stove. Pulling a saucepan from the rack above his head, he conjured some dry spaghetti, cast a time-saving Aguamenti to fill the pan and left it to cook. He wasn't good at being tolerable, and he knew that. He decided to just twirl his ebony wand between his fingers, and hope that the lingering silence would dissipate without him telling it to.

"It makes sense," an assertive voice piped up from the table, though it's owner was still visually engrossed in No and Me. Severus made note of the title for future reference. "It makes sense that you cook, that is. What with being a Potions Master. I suppose the two disciplines are quite similar, aren't they?"

"They are, rather."

The silence reigned as she took a sip from the glass of water stood next to her. It could have been considered a peaceful moment, Severus thought. He relaxed and leaned against the white marble countertop. _She belongs in a library_. It would take a fool not to see how the tension melted from her and her foot tapped against the leg of the chair out of habit when she was reading.

Severus returned his attention to the meal he was preparing. Tipping some tinned bolognese into the pan, he turned up the heat and pulled out a chair across from the young woman at the table.

They sat there just as they were for a long while, calm and peaceful and only interrupted when Severus moved to fix and eat his meal. When he stood up and left the kitchen for the large open fire of the living room, he couldn't help but think that there were words left unsaid.

Hermione followed not long after him, to find that he hadn't made himself comfortable in the living room and was leaning his shoulder against the massive mantlepiece with a glass of Firewhiskey in his hand which he periodically brought to his lips.

She placed her book on the mahogany coffee table with one smooth movement. Snape had put his glass down on the mantlepiece. It was now or never and she was as ready as she'd ever be. She took three steps towards him so that her face was less than a foot from his. His coal-black eyes stared down at her in curiosity and confusion, but he did nothing. _Fuck it_. She quickly placed her hands either side of his face and pulled him in so that his lips came crashing down on hers. Surprisingly enough he didn't stop her.

This was nothing like her messy kiss with Ron in the Chamber of Secrets, nothing like her drunken snog with Harry on his birthday, far from the short sweet pecks from Viktor Krum in fourth year. It was in a word... everything.

His lips were soft and smooth and moved against hers like they belonged there. Severus' arms wouldn't do what he told them to and instead dropped to wrap around the woman in his embrace. She melted into the kiss, and it felt as though there was a force pushing her into him, made of pure sweet passion.

They didn't notice at the time that the fire was flickering blue and white, illuminating the room. The only thing in the room, as far as they were concerned, was them.

The euphoria didn't last long.

Suddenly coming to his senses, he pushed her away and the tingling of her lips left his. The fire had dispersed as soon as there was an inkling of heat present, leaving them in total darkness. Without thinking, he scrambled to get his wand off the coffee table.

"Lumos." he gritted his teeth and looked her dead in the eye, her swollen lips still slightly parted and upturned at the corners. "Get out." She didn't move an inch and it made him angrier than ever.

"I said - GET OUT!" she was too calm. He hated it. And as she traipsed her way out of the the room and presumably to the corridor, his head was reeling.

He poured himself a large measure of firewhiskey.

On her way back up to her old prefect's room, a barrage of thoughts ran through Hermione's head. She understood more than she had - but in a way she understood everything and nothing all at the same time.

* * *

**Thank you for reading, my lovelies. I'll hopefully be back with another update soon. c:  
Don't forget to favourite, review and share the story. Until next time - Sabina.**


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